Everyone can become good at sales.
It’s true that some people have a natural proficiency for selling while others have to work harder to achieve similar results, but the same can be said for nearly every task or skill.
Make no bones about it, selling is everybody’s business and everyone lives by selling something. So how do you go about improving your sales capabilities?
Consider the following basic sales tips.
Listen
We all like people to listen to our needs and wants, adding valuable advice to the conversation.
Turn your approach around. Ask the right questions and respond accordingly. You’ll soon find you quickly have more meaningful client relationships and sales results.
Design your questions to learn more about your client’s current position; what they like and dislike, and what they would do given the opportunity to grow.
Find the time to prospect
Prospect, prospect, prospect. Do this every day and you’ll grow your business.
Finding the time to prospect can often be more difficult than the prospecting itself. Map out time to make it happen.
Are you over-servicing current clients? Are you doing activities that aren’t urgent and could be put on hold? Once you identify where your time could be better managed, then look at when the act of prospecting is right for you and your business.
Consider making calls first thing in the morning. This works on two levels: 1) you get it out of the way early in the day and 2) it’s often when people are most receptive.
The sales plan
All processes require careful planning – sales is no different.
Your sales plan should include everything you need to know about your business and industry and the tactics and tasks you’ll perform to grow your organisation.
Think strategically about your competitors, current issues facing your industry, your goals and objectives, budget, time, limitations and strengths.
Your sales plan should be a guide to keep you on track and help organise your vision into actionable and result-driven tasks.
At the end of the day, everyone is different. Stay true to yourself and communicate in an honest and genuine manner. Don’t copy anyone else’s sales technique. Instead, develop your own and you and your business will benefit.
Sue Barrett is a sales expert, business speaker, adviser, sales facilitator and entrepreneur and founded Barrett Consulting to provide expert sales consulting, sales training, sales coaching and assessments. Visit www.barrett.com.au
